Amaro addresses left field situation and bench concerns

Posted by Mandy Housenick | January 25, 2012 at 09:05 AM

During the media portion of the Phillies’ winter banquet at the Crowne Plaza in Wyomissing, Ruben Amaro Jr. made sure to specify that jobs can be won or lost in spring training, but in his mind he knows who the club’s left fielder should be.

The Phillies won’t have too many decisions to make as far as their bench goes when spring training breaks. Because Ryan Howard will likely start the year on the disabled list, that essentially means one extra bench player will be on the 25-man roster.

But Amaro is still keeping his eyes open in a few areas.

“Right now Michael Martinez and Wilson Valdez are part of it,” Amaro said. “We’ll see how that sifts out. We’re still looking to tweak a little bit to help in our outfield because we really only have four outfielders and if Howard’s not ready at the outset, which he likely will not be, then we’re looking at other guys to get opportunities to come in and steals some jobs.

“I think it behooves us to try to look for a little bit of speed. That’s one thing we don’t necessarily have on our bench. Jim [Thome], [Ty] Wigginton, [Laynce] Nix and [Brian] Schneider are our guys, we believe, will be on our bench. After that, we’ll have some guys competing [particularly after Howard returns]."

NOTES: Amaro said Howard is in Clearwater right now discussion some changes he needs to make offensively. ... Amaro added that he is continuing to work on signing Cole Hamels to a long-term deal. "As far as Cole Hamels is concerned the luxury tax will not preclude us from signing Cole Hamels. What might preclude us from signing Cole Hamels is not being able to get a deal done."